


Merry Christmas, Betty Cooper

by bettsc



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Bughead Secret Santa, F/M, Jughead Jones loves Christmas and Betty Cooper, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22056016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettsc/pseuds/bettsc
Summary: With a playful quirk of his brow as he narrows his eyes at her, “Betty Cooper, are you being a Scrooge?”“No, I am not,” she states defiantly.OR, Jughead Jones calls bah-humbug on Betty Cooper.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, bughead
Comments: 31
Kudos: 84
Collections: 6th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees, Bughead Secret Santa





	Merry Christmas, Betty Cooper

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Toryb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toryb/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, Toryb! I had so much fun writing this and I hope you enjoy :)

Jughead Jones met the girl in apartment 4B the day he’d moved into his small apartment on the Lower East Side. It was a bitter cold Sunday in January, though there’s a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead and his muscles ache from carrying his things up the four story walk up. 

He’s bringing up the last of his boxes as the apartment door across from his opens. 

“Hi there! You must be the new 4A. I’m Betty Cooper,” the woman in front of him says as she offers him her hand. 

He gingerly sets the box down and quickly wipes his hands on jeans before taking hers, “Jughead Jones.”

Her eyebrow quirks a little at the introduction of his name, as it often does with people, but her warm smile makes something knot in his stomach all the same. 

He notices three things: her eyes are a striking shade of green, she’s carrying a tote bag of what looks like library books and her blonde hair is pulled up into the most perfectly coifed ponytail he’s ever seen; oddly similar to the golden locks that grace the heads of many of the leading ladies in his favorite films.

_Of course,_ he just had to move in across from his very own Hitchcock Blonde. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Jughead. I’m just on my way out, but I’ll see you around?” 

“Definitely,” he says with a little too much excitement in his voice. Suddenly the small landing between their two apartments feels that much smaller. 

She offers him a smile and wave before heading downstairs and Jughead stands there feeling a little dumbfounded by the blonde beauty. He reaches down to pick up the last box and notices the snowflake wreath adorning Betty’s front door. 

_Festive_ , he thinks. 

\--

He gets to know Betty more over the next few months. She’d invited him over for coffee and he decided she was just being neighborly. Neighbors absolutely invited other neighbors over for coffee and the most delicious coffee cake he’d ever eaten. Totally normal. There was nothing untoward about the invitation, she was just being nice. Betty Cooper is a _nice_ person, he decides. It had somehow morphed into him inviting her over coffee in return, and it’s after she leaves that evening that he realizes he’s in trouble. 

Her apartment was every bit as he had imagined: clean, bright and well-organized. And Jughead now knows that Betty shares his passion for true crime, organizes her books both by color then author and is an excellent baker. She’s also extremely loveable; moreso when he says something offhanded that pulls a specific laugh and smile from her beautiful features. 

\--

Valentine’s day falls on a cold, dreary Tuesday and Jughead’s mood isn’t improved when he opens his front door that morning to see that Betty has decorated hers with a wreath of wooden hearts around the peephole.

It doesn’t surprise Jughead to see her door decked out for the commercial holiday, but his heart sinks a little at the thought of her enjoying it with someone else, which only serves to sour his mood a little more. He tugs his beanie a little further down on his head as he makes his way downstairs and to work. 

He returns home that night to find a pink tin in front of his door with a note from Betty. Inside are the best chocolate chip cookies he’s ever tasted, and he’s now absolutely positive he’s smitten with the girl in 4B.

\--

Jughead notices that Betty tends to decorate for every holiday. From little paper shamrocks on her door during St. Patrick’s Day to little bunny bunting across her door frame for Easter. She had extended a dinner offer to him and his best friend Archie to celebrate International Hamburger Day. Betty presented him with hamburgers so delicious, it’s a miracle he hadn’t gotten down on one knee right there. 

Betty had introduced them both to her own best friend that night, Veronica Lodge. Archie being Archie was immediately taken and soon their dinner parties for four are a monthly event. But it’s the occasional movie night between just him and Betty, that Jughead treasures most. 

She is smart and caring, but a little guarded when he asks about her family one night while they’re watching one of the newer Tarantino films. She’s clearly grown up with a family that instilled impeccable manners, but it’s clear that his inquiry hit a nerve. Jughead gets it; he didn’t grow up with the best relationship with his parents either. The rest of the evening is a little awkward, but he’s surprised when she gives him a tight hug before he leaves. 

\--

By Halloween, Jughead has come to one conclusion: he is falling quickly for Betty Cooper from Apartment 4B. 

She throws a small Halloween party and although he has an aversion to parties--interacting with most people, actually--he lets Archie drag him along. Jughead nearly chokes on his tongue when he sees her long legs in the short skirt that accompanies her Sherlock Holmes costume. 

Later that evening when he’s in bed, he does his best to smother the image of her in that costume out of his mind before he falls asleep. 

\--

Thanksgiving rolls around and he’s finding it hard to quell his blossoming crush on his neighbor. Deadlines and late nights have him cancelling on their weekly movie night meaning he won’t see her until after the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Jughead has plans to spend it with Archie and his family and he knows Betty will be headed upstate to spend it with hers. He texts her to reschedule but his disspointment is replaced by a flutter of his heart at her second text.

_It’s fine, Juggie. We can reschedule._

_Is it awful if I say I’ll miss you while I’m away?_

He lets the full-blown grin spread across his face as he reads and then rereads the text again before sending his reply.

_Not at all, Betts. I’ll miss you too._

\--

They’re not able to coordinate a time to hang out until the weekend after Thanksgiving. It’s his turn to pick the movie and he decided on something a little festive, _It’s a Wonderful Life_. It is December after all. 

While Jughead could care less about most other holidays, he _loves_ Christmas. Growing up his family had not had much but he’s come to learn that it’s not about the fancy presents or what you spend on people, but the time you spend with one another. There had been a few years where they couldn’t afford a tree, but his mother never failed to drag out the box of vintage decorations she’d collected over the year and decorate their small trailer. 

Something about the lights, the snow, the trees and the general cheer of the season lift up his typically sarcastic and somewhat cynical spirits this time of year. He almost feels _giddy_ as he knocks on Betty’s door and expects nothing less than a magical winter wonderland of decorations. If her elaborate fake spider webs across their tiny landing and intricately carved jack-o-lanterns are any indication, he’s sure her Christmas decorations will rival those at the most expensive department stores. 

That’s why he’s a little startled when Betty opens the door and there’s nothing. Not one twinkling light, nor pine tree or reindeer in sight. He doesn’t comment because maybe she just hasn’t gotten her decorations up yet, he knows that work has been busy for him and is assuredly so for her this time of year. 

But it’s when she audibly groans at his movie choice that he voices his concern. 

With a playful quirk of his brow as he narrows his eyes at her, “Betty Cooper, are you being a Scrooge?” 

“No, I am not,” she states defiantly. 

“I call _bah-humbug_ on you. You literally celebrate and decorate for every other holiday.”

She sets her mug of tea down on the coffee table and angles her body towards him on the couch. “Firstly, that is not the proper use of the word _literally_ and I’m offended. Secondly, I just don’t do Christmas. I grew up with my mother shoving all of it down my throat and I’ve decided that as an adult I can do it my way and my way is not at all.” 

“Betts,” he lets his hand fall to her knee. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” If he didn’t feel like such an ass for teasing her he’d be more excited by the fact that she hasn’t shied away from his hand. 

“It’s fine, Juggie,” she sighs and places her hand over his on her knee. “Everything always had to be perfect. Perfectly wrapped gifts under her perfect tree decorated with the perfect amount of ornaments. She ruined the magic of Christmas for me, frankly, and no matter how hard I’ve tried, it just feels wrong.” Betty picks up her mug from the table and leans against his shoulder. “Can we just watch something else tonight and forget about the Christmas movie, please?” 

“Of course. Anything you want.” They chose some random action movie on Netflix that supposedly had good reviews but Jughead barely pays attention. He instead focuses on the weight of her head on his shoulder and how much his heart constricts for the woman beside him. 

_She deserves the world_ , he thinks. Betty Cooper does everything for everyone and she most of all, deserves to feel the magic of Christmas. 

\--

Jughead doesn’t mention anything about Christmas around Betty for the rest of the month. Instead, he waits and keeps the box of decorations that he normally puts up in his apartment in the closet until December 23rd. 

It’s the last working day before Christmas Eve and he knows Betty has plans to take the train home in the morning. This is why he takes one of unused vacation days and gets to work just after he knows she’s left her apartment. Jughead grabs the box of decorations from the closet, steps out onto the tiny landing between their apartments and gets to work. 

Eight hours later, he’s accomplished what he set out to do. There’s a knock on his door as he’s pulling gingerbread cookies out of the oven and his heart leaps into his throat. He pulls off his oven mitts, turns down the holiday tunes he had playing to a soft sound and opens the door to a bewildered Betty Cooper.

“Jughead. What is all of this?” 

She’s still in her winter coat and the warm glow of the twinkle lights he’d string between their doors makes her face light up even more. 

“Betty, I know you don’t do Christmas, but I wanted to show you that it doesn’t have to perfect, and you can still feel the magic.” 

She steps back and looks around the landing; various stars ornaments hang from the twinkle lights, green garland is festooned over hers and his door frames, and there’s even hand cut snowflakes delicately taped to their doors with fake snow on the ground. 

“Jug, this is…” The look on her face is unreadable and suddenly he’s worried that he’s upset her. 

Feeling just a little bit mortified that he may have just royally screwed up any chance he had with her, he focuses his attention on a bit of fake snow near his foot. 

“This is _amazing_ , thank you.” 

He snaps his head up to see her smiling widely at him with unshed tears in her eyes. Jughead lets out a slow breath, “ _You_ are amazing, Betty Cooper.” He gingerly closes the distance between them and lets his hand find its way to her should to caress her neck. His eyes searching hers and then he leans in...

“--Wait!” She stops him with a gentle hand on his chest and his heart thuds loudly. “Wait, wait, hold on.” Betty bends down to grab something out of her bag on the floor. 

She pulls out a ball of mistletoe and holds it up proudly. “It’s not nearly as festive as your decorations…or that apron.” Jughead looks down at the apron he still has on that his sister sent him that’s adorned with snowmen and penguins. She grins, “But I thought I could at least try one holiday tradition this year.” 

He takes the ball of mistletoe from her and gently attaches it to the twinkle lights, so it hangs right above them. 

“Merry Christmas, Betty Cooper.” He tells her as he places both of hands on her face and lowers his forehead to hers. 

“Merry Christmas, Jughead Jones.” Their lips meet, and he feels warm all the way down to his toes. 

(Which are, of course, wrapped in reindeer socks.)


End file.
